More and more Ponzi schemes are coming to light in the wake of Bernie Madoff. In the latest example, Texas businessman R. Allen Stanford allegedly stole $8 billion through the sale of CDs that were supposed to be ultra-safe and have higher returns than what you could get elsewhere.

Stanford ran a bank in Antigua and was promising returns of 6-10% for over a decade at a time when real CD rates were far lower. The Securities and Exchange Commission now thinks he was actually putting the money into speculative ventures involving real estate and private equity. The latter is a euphemism for those kinds of investments that aren't traded on a stock exchange and typically have very shoddy record-keeping.

What will happen to all the people who collectively put up the $8 billion? Clark has no idea. The feds did a big raid on Stanford like you'd see in a Hollywood movie, but the investigation will take some time to unwind. There's no assurance that those who were duped will get any of their money back.

So the takeaway is this: Beware of false promises of safe and secure CDs that magically earn higher returns than what's available in the market. In fact, beware of any promise of a safe investment that has no risk.

Investing is risky by its very nature -- you risk your capital in the hopes that it will grow. Saving is not risky; however, you only earn puny returns.

It's one or the other. You can't have both.